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THE 



MISSISSIPPI 



ITS AFFLUENTS. 



BY S. WATERHOUSE 



OF 



WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. 



ST. LOUIS, JANUARY 1, 1092. 



2 — 



Commerce and Improvement of Our Midland Rivers. 

It is the aim of these pages to show the com- 
mercial importance of our midland river system 
and the necessity of an early removal from the 
Mississippi and its main tributaries of every ob- 
struction to their navigation. The courtesy of 
Hon. R. P. Porter, superintendent of the United 
States census, has recently furnished me with sta- 

TABLE NO. 1— EQUIPMENT. 
Number, Tonnage, and Value of All Steamers and Un- 
rigged Craft (over 5 Tons) owned on the Riv- 
ers OP THE Mississippi Valley in 1889. 



Rivers. 



Total for Mississippi Valley. 



Steamers. 



No. 



1,106 



210,771.89 



Value. 



$10,539,251 



Upper Mississppi 

St. Croix 

Chippewa 

Illinois 

Missouri , Osage , &Gascona(le 

Total for Upper Mississippi 
System 

Ohio 

Allegheny 

Monongahela 

Muskingum 

Little Kanawha 

Great Kanawha 

Big Sandy 

Kentucky 

Green 

Wabash , . . . . 

Cumberland 

Tennessee 

Total for Ohio System . 

Lower Mississippi 

White 

Arkansas 

Yazoo 

Washita 

Red River 

Total for Lower Mississippi 
System 

Red River of the North 



188 

15 

1 



24,978.21 

1,258.35 

108.00 

1,860.25 

4,759.84 



32,964.65 



$1,485,369 

99,000 

7,000 

80,200 

209,700 



$1,881,269 



380 
6 

48 
7 
5 

21 
8 
5 
5 
3 

17 

32 



537 



85,035.62 
715.84 

6,234.15 
567.79 
228.18 

2,386.13 
787.67 
374.31 
316.68 
297.00 

2,935.57 

7,316.89 



107,195.83 



$4,099,177 
53,000 

419,600 
25,050 
18,000 

123,333 
40,000 
21,000 
13,500 
10,000 

109,300 

260,750 



$5,192,710 



257 
5 
15 
11 
3 



62,476.07 
1,229.71 
4,098.73 
1,409.68 
994.52 
1,968.88 



70,177.59 



433.82 



$3,152,372 
45,000 
66,200 
62,000 
45,000 
80,700 



$3,451,272 



$14,000 



— 3 — 

tistics which exhibit the magnitude of our river 
commerce. These tables — prepared under the su- 
pervision of Mr. Vivian, special agent of the Cen- 
sus Bureau — were accompanied by the following 
letter of explanation: — 

"Your letter to Superintendent Porter, asking 
for facts regarding the commerce on the Missis- 
sippi and affluents, has been referred to me, and in 
reply I beg to send you three tables, as follows: 

" 1. Equipment — showing the number, tonnage, 
and value of all steamers and unrigged craft re- 
ported on in the Mississippi valley for 1889. 

TABLE NO. 1— Continued. 



UN3IGGED. 


Total. 


No. 


Tonnage. 


Value. 


No. 


Tonnage. 


Value. 


6,339 


3,182,608.00 


$4,795,754 


7,445 


3,393,379.89 


$15,338,005 


285 
11 

52 


165,685.00 
10,000.00 


$214,018 
11,000 


473 

26 

1 

9 

104 


190,663.12 

11,258.35 

108.00 

1,860.25 

9,657.84 


$1,699,387 

110,000 

7,000 






80,200 
240,405 


4,898.00 


30,705 


348 


180,583.00 


$255,723 


613 


213,547.65 


$2,136,992 


4,488 

26 

110 

72 

48 

872 

9 

3 

20 
60 


2,355,846.00 
2,340.00 
16,653.00 
7,803.00 
4,744.00 
409,980.00 
3,150.00 
165.00 


$2,858,336 

10,400 

30,100 

28,465 

12,000 

521,705 

4,000 

1,100 


4,868 

32 

158 

79 

53 

893 

17 

8 

5 

3 

37 

92 


2,440,881.62 

3,055.84 

22,887.15 

8,370.79 

4,972.18 

412,366.13 

3,937.67 

539.31 

316.68 

297.00 

4,805.57 

18,038.89 


$6,957,513 
63,400 

449,700 
53,515 
30,000 

645,038 
44,000 
22,100 
13,500 
10,000 

113,600 

293,975 






1,870.00 
10,722.00 


4,300 
33,225 


5,708 


2,813,273.00 


$3,503,631 


6,245 


2,920,468.83 


$8,696,341 


250 

1 
7 
9 

"5" 


175,510.00 

40.00 

310.00 

1,670.00 


$1,001,250 

100 

1,400 

17,450 


507 

6 

22 

20 

3 

14 


237,986.07 
1,269.71 
2,408.73 
3,079.68 
994.52 
2,218.88 


$4,153,622 
45,100 
67,600 
79,450 
45,000 
85,700 


250.00 


5,000 


272 


177,780.00 


$1,025,200 


572 


247:957.59 


$4,476,472 


11 


10,972.00 


$11,200 


15 


11,405.82 


$25,200 



— 4 — 

" 2. Traflflc — showing the passengers carried and 
tons of freight moved on all operating craft of the 
valley in 1889. 

TABLE NO. 2— TRAFFIC. 

Passengers Carried, Tons of Freight Moved, and Miles 

Traveled by All Craft (over 5 Tons) Operating on 

THE Rivers of the Mississippi Valley in 1889. 



Rivers and their Tributaries. 



Grand Total, Mississippi Valley 



Upper Mississippi 

St. Croix 

Chippewa 

Illinois 

Missouri, Osage, and Gasconade. 



Total, Upper Mississippi System. 



Ohio River 

Allegheny 

Monongahela 

Muskingum 

Little Kanawha. 
Great Kanawha. 

Big Sandy 

Kentucky 

Green River 

Wabash 

Cumberland 

Tennessee 



Total, Ohio System. 



Lower Mississippi. 

White River 

Arkansas 

Yazoo 

Washita 

Red River 



Total , Lower Mississippi System 

Red River of the North 

'* 3. Income and Expenditure — showing the gross 
earnings, expenses, and net earnings of all operat- 
ing craft of the valley in 1889. 



— 5 — 

" These tables, I think, are almost self-explana- 
tory, and but one or two terms need any remarks. 
For instance, by ' unrigged ' is meant all towed 
craft, such as barges, flats, scows, &c. The freight 
is that carried on these barges, principally grain in 

TABLE NO. 2— Continued. 



Passengers Carried. 


Freight 

Moved 

IN Tons. 


Miles 
Traveled 

BY ALL 

Steamers. 


Regular 

AND 

Excursion. 


Ferry. 


Total. 


2,384,248 


8,474,646 


10,858,894 


29,405,046 


7,316,545 


285,676 

304 

4,441 

21,768 

26,561 


1,192,409 
12,000 


1,478,085 

12,304 

4,441 

50,368 

276,536 


4,486,421 
846,816 
325,477 
180,264 

1,119,362 


1,101,990 

67,990 

12,000 

83,436 

159,239 


28,600 
249,975 


338,750 


1,482,984 


1,821,734 


6,958,340 


1,424,655 


1,191,732 

5,319 

130,537 

37,681 

9,451 

53,599 

11,000 

9,550 

11,200 

180 

19,160 

27,185 


3,924,074 


5,115,806 

5,319 

261,387 

37,681 

9,451 

92,124 

11,000 

9,550 

11,200 

180 

19,160 

930,285 


7,770,565 
365,946 

3,294,932 

10,281 

115,657 

1,145,202 
286,483 
256,950 
819,278 
93,178 
974,316 
909,078 


2,696,020 

2,040 

130,898 

27,055 

14,740 


130,850 




38,525 


59,680 
47,350 
12,588 
10,300 
12,700 










144,968 


903,100 


420,894 


1,506,594 


4,996,549 


6,503,143 


16,041,866 


3,579,233 


518,267 
4,183 
2,651 
5,391 
1,204 
7,208 


1,933,048 


2,451,315 
4,183 
64,716 
5,391 
1,204 
7,208 


*4, 374, 761 
86,393 
1,663,817 
77,380 
93,707 
105,145 


1,826,254 
68,786 


62,065 


61,689 
121,216 




60,828 




172,800 


538,904 


1,995,113 


2,534,017 


*6,401,203 


2,311,573 








3,637 


1,084 











♦Respectively, 7,754,491 tons, 9,820,833 tons, and 31,897,565 tons, 
including the coal and lumber brought into and carried on Lower 
Mississippi from the Upper Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. 



— 6 — 

bulk and coal; that carried on regular freighting 
steamers, and that carried on those ferries that are 
not considered as links of railroads, except that 
carried on such large concerns as the Wiggins 



TABLE NO. 3— INCOME AND EXPENDITURE. 

Gross Earnings, Expenses, and Net Earnings of All, Craft 

(OVER 5 Tons) Operating on the Rivers of the 

Mississippi Valley in 1889. 



Rivers. 


Gross 

Earnings. 


Expenses . 


Net' 
Earnings. 


Total for Miss. Valley. . 


$16,335,503 


$12,598,342 


$3,737,161 


Bed River of the North. 


$5,661 


$4,246 


$1,415 


Upper Mississippi 

St. Croix 

Chippewa 


$1,994,786 
169,184 
18,244 
134,771 

294,470 


$1,403,746 

93,703 

9,844 

113,047 

229,477 


$591,040 

75,481 

8,400 

21,724 


Missouri, Osage, and 
Gasconade 


64,993 




Total for Upper Mis- 
sissippi System 


$2,611,455 


$1,849,817 


$761,638 


Ohio 

Allegheny 


$5,070,654 
20,630 

496,930 
55,482 
30,921 

192,006 
94,918 
58,821 
31,889 
42,320 

205,636 

400,806 


$4,000,777 
18,449 

398,861 
40,589 
17,343 

138,677 
69,879 
33,866 
27,154 
22,140 

170,939 

330,893 


$1,069,877 

2,181 

98,069 


Muskingum 

Little Kanawha 

Great Kanawha 


14,893 
13,578 
53,329 
25,039 




24,955 




4 735 


"Wabash 

Cumberland 

Tennessee 


20,180 
34,697 
69,913 


Total for Ohio Sys- 


$6,701,013 


$5,269,567 


$1,431,446 




Lower Mississippi 

White 


$6,236,310 
100,697 
86,383 
144,068 
125,180 
324,736 


$4,849,939 
82,443 
56,549 
125,469 
103,220 
257,092 


$1,386,371 
18,254 




29,834 
18,599 
21 960 




Washita 




67,644 




Total for Lower Mis- 
sissippi System 


$7,017,374 


$5,474,712 


$1,542,662 



Ferry Company of St. Louis, the Waterloo and 
Carondelet Ferry — concerns where the tonnage of 
freight carried is unknown. The year 1889 is from 
January 1 to December 31. The business of each 



— 7 — 

river is that of the river itself and its tributaries; 
that is, for example, the business done on the Cheat 
and the Buckhannon is included in the report of 
the Monongahela. In the case of the upper Missis- 
sippi, the Ohio, and the lower Mississippi — used as 
titles for the three systems — the business of the 
unmentioned tributaries is included, but not that of 
those mentioned as forming the system. For in- 
stance, the business of the upper Mississippi in- 
cludes that of the Minnesota, Galena, Red, Cedar, 
&c. ; that of the Ohio includes the business of the 
Guyandotte and Licking; and that of the lower 
Mississippi includes the business of the bayous, the 
Big Hatchie, the Kaskaskia, the Big Black, &c. In 
every case, where at all possible, the commerce is 
that of each river; that is, only such freight is 
allowed to a river as had its origin there. The foot- 
note to the table of traffic gives an illustration of 
what the figures would be, if the overlapping 
freight from one river into another were considered 
as actual traffic. The traffic of St. Louis by river is 
divided. That from the upper Mississippi and Ohio 
is given to those rivers, as is that from St. Louis to 
points on those rivers; that to and from St. 
Louis and points on the lower Mississippi is given 
to that river, and the local business of St. Louis 
is given to the lower Mississippi. Similar disposi- 
tions are made of the equipment and expense 
accounts. 

" I trust that these explanations will be sufficient 
to a proper understanding of the tables." 

The fulness of these tables obviates the need of a 
lengthy discussion. The figures are arguments 
which scarcely require a verbal expression. The 
cogency of the facts is far more convincing than 
the illustrations of rhetoric. The efficiency of the 
Mississippi as a means of commercial intercourse 
depends upon the freedom of its channel from ob- 
structions. In view of the frequent interruptions 
of navigation, the amount of freights borne on the 
Mississippi is surprisingly large. But, if its channel 
were always deep enough for the passage of boats, 
the aggregates would be immensely greater. The 
delays which shallows cause deter merchants from 
sending their goods by the water route. Last sum- 



mer the river was exceptionally low. The expe- 
riences of a holiday excursion impressed me with a 
vivid sense of the obstacles which at times em- 
barrass the navigation of the Mississippi. On 
my way to St. Paul and back, fifty hours were 
spent on sand bars. The various detentions arising 
from low water protracted the round trip nine days 
beyond the schedule time. There was a sufficient 
flow of water for unobstructed navigation, if it had 
only been restricted to a narrow channel. On the 
upper river, the wing-dams are numerous and ef- 
fective. Indeed, without them the shallows would 
have been wholly impassable. But there are still 
scores of shoals which the Government has neg- 
lected to remove. At only a few places were forces 
of men at work upon the improvement of the chan- 
nel. The example of France in providing facilities 
for commercial intercourse affords an instructive 
lesson to the United States. In France, from the 
days of the great Vauban, adequate expenditures 
of the public wealth have hastened to completion 
every work that promoted the national interests. 
But in this country, a false system delays the use- 
fulness and increases the cost of public improve- 
ments. In consequence of the irregularity and 
insufficiency of Congressional appropriations,works 
commenced by the Government sometimes fall into 
partial decay before they can be finished. The cost 
of reconstructing them is a great and unnecessary 
expense. Even the richest nation in the world can 
not afford such wasteful extravagance. True fru- 
gality requires an annual grant of funds ample 
enough for the seasonable completion of public im- 
provements. Our present impolicy renders the 
upper Mississippi almost unnavigable at low stages 
of water, deprives our great waterway of its vast 
usefulness as a means of transportation and as a 
regulator of railroad freights, and debars the cities 
on its banks from the prosperity which a flourishing 
river trade would create. A statesmanship broad 
as the interests of our country and heedless of mis- 
taken conceptions of public economy ought to make 
regular and adequate provision for deepening the 
channel of the Mississippi River. 



— 9 — 

The course of foreign governments is sagaciously 
different from our own. For a century, the great 
nations beyond the Atlantic, clearly recognizing 
the sources of public prosperity, have been effect- 
ively carrying out systems of internal improve- 
ment. If the Mississippi were in Europe, every- 
thing which imperial wealth and engineering skill 
could accomplish would long since have been done 
to free its channel from every obstacle to its use- 
fulness. The enterprise of Americans is a national 
boast; but, in the prosecution of great public works, 
Europeans have been more progressive than our 
own countrymen. In their management of internal 
improvements, Americans might profitably follow 
the guidance of foreign examples. 

The preceding tables show how vast a commerce 
now floats on the Mississippi and its affluents, but 
their tonnage would be incalculably greater, if 
these streams were always navigable. 

The improvement of the Mississippi is a vast un- 
dertaking. The permanent accomplishment of this 
work is perhaps impossible. The ever shifting 
sands of an alluvial bed constantly renew the tasks 
of the engineer. But doubtless the combined forces 
of science and capital, which have overcome so 
many seemingly insuperable difficulties, will be 
able to maintain navigable channels in all our great 
rivers. The inadequacy of small grants is an ur- 
gent reason for larger appropriations. False theo- 
ries of frugality should not be suffered to prevent 
the improvement of waterways which, if kept open, 
would cheapen every form of commercial trans- 
portation. While Congressional allowances ought 
to be more liberal, the field of operations should be 
restricted. The Government funds are dissipated 
over too large an area to be effective. A concen- 
tration of effort would be more conducive to suc- 
cess. Should the unprofitable policy of retrench- 
ment prevail, it would seem best to limit the ex- 
penditure of public moneys to the improvement of 
the main streams. Perhaps, even in the event of 
ample appropriations, such a restriction would be 
the wisest course. Minor interests should yield to 
the general welfare. If experience may be taken 
as a guide, simultaneous operations upon all our 



— 10 — 

waterways are seldom productive of much good. 
The work is too slight, disconnected, and intermit- 
tent to accomplish the object. If the labor and 
money frittered away on all our rivers were spent 
on one, that stream would be opened from its 
mouth to the limit of navigation. Rapid and effect- 
ive work implies concentration. Our rivers should 
be severally improved in the order of their size and 
commercial importance. But if the urgency of 
public sentiment will not permit a separate and 
successive progress, then the Mississippi, Ohio, and 
Missouri should be the first to receive attention. 
The deepening of the main channels would ensure 
the improvement of the tributaries. If Congress 
would only subordinate unimportant needs to the 
great interests of the nation, our western rivers 
would soon be free from obstructions. 

The States which lie in the Mississippi valley are 
large and powerful. Their united action could con- 
trol national legislation and secure larger appro- 
priations for the imprpvement of our great midland 
watercourses. The active co-operation of western 
governors. State legislators, and members of Con- 
gress would facilitate the solution of a difficult 
problem. A definite policy, urged by the unani- 
mous sentiment of our central States, would hardly 
be rejected by Congress. If our Government should 
fail to make adequate provision for the improve- 
ment of our waterways, the chief responsibility for 
the failure would rest on the dissensions of jealous 
and ruinously selfish constituencies. Harmony of 
action and a statesmanship that rises above petty 
local needs to the heights from which patriotism 
surveys national interests would soon increase the 
commercial efficiency of our great midland rivers. 

Congress can not afford to neglect the moment- 
ous interests of western navigation. But an intel- 
ligent care of the Mississippi requires far-sighted 
legislation. Dredging, the construction of wing- 
dams, the release, in seasons of drought, of waters 
stored in the lakes of Minnesota, and the inflow 
from Lake Michigan, after the completion of the 
Rock Island canal, will afford a partial relief. 

But there are remote and grave difficulties — not 
less grave because remote — which Congress only 



— 11 — 

can obviate. Scientific observation records a grad- 
ual lowering of the waters of the Mississippi and 
of the great northern lakes. The cause of this 
subsidence is the felling of northern forests. Long 
ago foreign nations learned the imprudence of de- 
nuding their woodlands. The extinction of val- 
uable plants, the disappearance of birds useful to 
the farmer, the diminished rainfall, the shallowed 
streams, and the lessened productiveness of the 
soil were disasters which only imperial hands were 
able to retrieve. And now, throughout Europe 
and India, wise and rigorous forestry laws prevent 
any wanton or dangerously extensive destruction 
of trees. When any large area is stripped of its 
woods, the amount of precipitation always de- 
creases, and the rainfall, instead of being absorbed 
by the earth and slowly filtering into the water- 
courses, flows quickly from the surface and swells 
the streams with a sudden and transient rise. In 
the event of heavy and continuous rains, the rapid 
efflux of the waters causes destructive floods. Un- 
less our Government takes effective measures to 
arrest the felling of our northwestern forests, the 
lessening volume of the Mississippi will in the 
coming time be obstructed by still greater impedi- 
ments to navigation. 

The improvement of the waterways which 
cheapen the food of mankind and facilitate the 
exchanges of domestic and foreign commerce chal- 
lenges the best thought of American statesmen. 

The promotion of the vast interests which the 
river system of the Mississippi Valley represents 
is a proud distinction. It is hoped that our Con- 
gressmen, with a patriotism grandly superior to 
mere local wants, will take prompt and efficient 
steps to fit these majestic streams for their des- 
tined careers of national usefulness. 



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